Redbull New Headquarters / Sid Lee Architecture

© Ewout Huibers

Architects: Sid Lee Architecture
Location: Amsterdam,
Clients: Red Bull Netherlands
Acrhitectural Design:
Visual Identity and Graphics: Sid Lee
Builders: Fiction Factory
Furniture: 2D&W
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 875 sqm
Photographs: Ewout Huibers

Chosen over two other firms, Sid Lee Architecture and Sid Lee’s Amsterdam atelier were mandated to create the new Red Bull Amsterdam headquarters. The company agreed to settle in the North side of Amsterdam’s port area, in a site evocative of both an artistic street culture and the intensity of extreme sports. The project landed in an old heritage shipbuilding factory, facing a timeless crane and an old disused Russian submarine.

“To design the inner space, we aimed at retrieving Red Bull’s philosophy, dividing spaces according to their use and spirit, to suggest the idea of the two opposed and complementary hemispheres of the human mind, reason versus intuition, arts versus the industry, dark versus light, the rise of the angel versus the mention of the beast”, says Jean Pelland, lead design Architect and Senior Partner at Sid Lee Architecture.

Ground Floor Plan

Inside the shipbuilding factory, with its three adjacent bays, the architects focused on expressing the dichotomy of space, shifting from public spaces to private ones, from black to white and from white to black.

© Ewout Huibers

Our goal in this endeavor was to combine the almost brutal simplicity of an industrial built with Red Bull’s mystical invitation to perform. The interior architecture with its multiple layers of meaning conveys this dual personality, reminding the user of mountain cliffs one moment and skate board ramps the next. These triangle- shaped piles, as if ripped off the body of a ship, build up semi-open spaces that can be viewed from below, as niches, or from above, as bridges and mezzanines spanning across space. In the architecture we offer, nothing is clearly set; all is a matter of perception.

© Ewout Huibers
© Ewout Huibers

Text provided by Sid Lee Architecture

* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
Cite: "Redbull New Headquarters / Sid Lee Architecture" 28 Nov 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 25 May 2013. <http://www.archdaily.com/187808>

9 comments

  1. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    I’d say that Mr.Sid Lee doesn’t have a clue what he is doing. I’m sorry to say such thing out loud.
    I respect the fact he got chosen for designing the place, but this solution does not have anything with RedBull philosophy. It is bored, without energy and does not give you any excitement. Their energy drink on the other hand boosts you with energy and their sportsmans share their adrenaline with you.

    Reply
      • Thumb up Thumb down 0

        Sure….
        In the past years I’ve been on numerous RB events, experiencing the vibrant atmosphere only they can achieve. I also know how austrians and germans think as I live next to them.
        I’d like to see photos of occupied space, but for now, my opinion is that the place lacks energy.

    • Thumb up Thumb down 0

      I disagree,

      It’s in tune with the new generation they are trying to reach. They are going after the trendy DJ market rather than UFC championships.

      Reply
  4. Thumb up Thumb down +1

    was excited to see this until i saw the bathroom mosaics.. is it really NECESSARy to insult a religious image to have “cool” design?? very disappointed.

    Reply
  5. Thumb up Thumb down +1

    So one can be sure it is necessary being an atheist to work for red bull or wouldn´t a christian feel insulted to see such offense? Is that a proper language to use on office buildings, is Mr. Sid Lee trying to prove he has a childish mtv taste or that red bull is oppressive regarding religions?

    Reply
  6. Thumb up Thumb down 0

    Dear Mr. Sid,
    ADVICE: stick to architecture and leave interior designing to those who know how to do it, for your own reputations sake.

    u don’t think so? check out SKYPE offices by PS Arkitektur and have them teach you a thing or two about designing cool offices.

    Yours Truely
    NOTYO_URFAN..get it? ^^

    Reply

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